Is Gill Holland The Hardest Working Man In Indie Film, Or Is He Just Plain Nuts?

Gill Holland is broke. Well, nearly broke. “I think I have one moremonth before something has to start popping. I almost started typing upmy resume yesterday.” Gill is, if not the busiest producer in indiefilm, then certainly among the top two or three, and last week he tooksome time to chat on the phone with indieWIRE about his current slate ofprojects — welcome to the world of low-budget, independent filmproduction.

His title on all of these films varies from co-producer, to producer, toassociate producer to executive producer — but the line tends to beblurred, especially in independent films. “‘Dear Jesse’ we’ve worked onfor three years,” says Holland. “I’m the only executive producer,there’s a producer who’s down in North Carolina, so a lot of theday-to-day stuff I ended up doing, but (director) Tim Kirkman isprobably the real producer.” However, even defining what a producerdoes, is difficult. “A lot of things come down to delegating andsurrounding yourself with wonderfully talented people,” he remarks,continuing, “and having the confidence to know that they’re wonderfullytalented and letting them do their jobs.”

Sometimes, even when films are done, they aren’t really done, as is thecase with “Remembering Sex.” “We played three fests and did really welland got a ton of press,” says Holland, “and even got an offer, but wewanted to change the ending a little bit and we wanted to kind of recutthe first act. So we’re back in post-production.”

If the pedigrees of cast and crew count for anything, Holland should be(financially) fine by this time next year. For example, “Kill By Inches”co-director Doniol-Valcroze is the daughter of French New Wave actressFrancoise Brion (“Rosebud,” “Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud“) and director andCahiers du Cinema co-founder, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (“A Question of Rape“).Additionally, according to Holland, the swing grip’s mother produced“Breaking the Waves,” and the production coordinator’s grandfather wasthree-time Best Director Oscar Winner, William Wyler (“Ben Hur,” “Mrs.Miniver“).

The major pitfall of independent film production is, of course, lack offunds. “Spring Forward,” which Holland is producing with Jim McKay(“Girls Town“) and Michael Stipe, had a shoot over the summer, willre-convene for a three-day shoot in the fall (Holland says that thefall shoot “is color of leaves contingent.”), and again for a week inthe winter. “We can’t afford to create fake seasons which a Hollywoodfilm might be able to do.” Holland added that director Gilroy “wantedthe actors to have a chance to inhabit their characters for an entireyear.” The film stars Liev Schreiber (“Scream 2,” “The Daytrippers“),Ned Beatty (“Deliverence,” “All the President’s Men“), Campbell Scott(“Big Night“), Lili Taylor (“I Shot Andy Warhol,” “Girls Town”), PeriGilpin (TV’s “Fraser” – in her first film role) and Ian Hart (“Backbeat,”“Land and Freedom“).

“I am insane. To work in independent film, you have to be insane,”Holland said bluntly. For example, his salary for “Desert Blue” was$5,000 up front with the rest deferred. His salary on his other filmsis also deferred. “Which is insane,” he explains. In addition, havingso many projects going at once means 19 hour days for days on end.When I mentioned that most people work their salaries into thebudget of their films, Holland is typically magnanimous. “Theirbudgets are so small, it just seems so silly when I have some morecredit cards I can live on for like one more month.”